Some 85% of Middle East business event organisers who attend international events are frustrated by the lack of live multilingual translation services, according to new research from event technology company Interprefy.
The study, which surveyed 387 decision-makers across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain, found that over half (52%) described their frustration as extreme or very high. Despite this, 45% remain unfamiliar with remote simultaneous interpretation (RSI), whilst 38% have never encountered live multilingual captioning.
The research found that 86% of organisers report high or very high demand for multilingual services at their events. In response, 98% said they are likely to use real-time translation services at their own multilingual events.
Oddmund Braaten, chief executive at Interprefy, said: “Access to language should be viewed as access to opportunities. As more businesses in the Middle East expand their networks West and Western businesses increasingly host events in the Middle East, language access becomes a critical success factor. Without real-time multilingual support, participation, engagement and inclusivity all suffer.”
Key barriers to adoption include concerns over AI accuracy, with 55% of respondents worried that AI-generated captions are not accurate enough, whilst 49% express concerns about AI handling confidential discussions or data.
Organisers identified webinars (63%), business meetings (58%) and company-wide sessions (56%) as key priorities for multilingual delivery.
The global multilingual interpretation market is projected to reach $20.47bn by 2025, with an expected growth rate of 5.9% through 2032. The human interpretation services segment grew from $9.25bn in 2023 to $11.6bn in 2024, a year-on-year jump of 25.5%.